Bloomsbury banks on the Phoenix

Bloomsbury, the publishing house behind J K Rowling's blockbuster Harry Potter series, yesterday predicted that huge demand for the fifth novel about the Hogwart's wizard would fuel growth in 2003.

The company, which reported an 11.5pc rise in pre-tax profits to £9.76m for the year to December 31, said the delay since the last Harry Potter novel was released, in July 2000, meant there were "three new seasons of new readers" waiting to enjoy the book.

Chairman Nigel Newton said: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be published on June 21. This can accurately be described as the most anticipated book of the year and will be launched with a dramatic campaign. I think it will be bigger [than the previous novels]."

The absence of a Harry Potter release last year showed clearly in the figures - turnover from children's books fell 7.5pc to £38.2m and declined from 68pc to 56pc as a proportion of total revenue - but Mr Newton emphasised the group was not dependent on one author.

"Not only did we achieve best sellers with works by established authors like Joanna Trollope … but our ongoing strategy to identify talented new authors showed notable success with Schott's Original Miscellany."

Turnover, including adult and reference books, was 11.3pc ahead at £68m. Schott's, a book of trivia with an initial print run of about 30,000, is believed to have gone on to sell around 10 times that figure.

Mr Newton said Bloomsbury's strengthened balance sheet would enable it to attract more established authors in coming years.

Last year, the company invested £11.1m in future titles, and this figure is expected to rise significantly in the current year as the company pays higher advances to well-known authors.

Bloomsbury will pay a final dividend of 5.52p on July 4, bringing the year's total to 7.17p, an increase of nearly 14pc. The shares closed 7.5 higher at 740p.